An unusually hawkish tone from the US Fed chair Janet Yellen, pulled the Indian rupee to an intra-day low of 61.38 on spot against the United States dollar.

Exporter selling prevented a sell-off beyond 61.40/60 resistance area. However, weakness in the majors, Euro and Pound against the United States dollar and downtick in the domestic equity markets did not allow the rupee recoup much of the losses.

Over the near-term, Indian rupee is expected to trade within a range of 60.60/80 and 62.00/62.20, as year-end demand from corporates will be closer to 61.00 on spot.